


The Quiet Moments

by princessgongjunim (MyOwnCharacterInEverything)



Series: The Pining Idiots of Angel Café [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, an experiment to see if writing angstless slow burn is possible, and there are other ships at the end, boyfriends who don't know they're boyfriends, other members make cameos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 01:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnCharacterInEverything/pseuds/princessgongjunim
Summary: Like everything else about their relationship, Johnny and Taeyong began as a soft and quiet thing. It was, if you will, kind of like a flower. They spent forever in a budding state, with everyone waiting, with varying degrees of patience, for them to finally blossom into something beautiful. Except no one quite knew when they bloomed. Blooming happens quietly, after all. All that anyone knew was that they did eventually bloom, and it was a pleasant surprise (and relief) when one finally noticed their full beauty after all that waiting.AKA The Countless Times Johnyong Stared At Each Other Over The Course Of Six Years & The One Time Johnny Didn't Want To Look At Taeyong At All





	The Quiet Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whiplashangel127](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiplashangel127/gifts).



Like everything else about their relationship, Johnny and Taeyong began as a soft and quiet thing. It was, if you will, kind of like a flower. They spent forever in a budding state, with everyone waiting, with varying degrees of patience, for them to finally blossom into something beautiful. Except no one quite knew when they bloomed. Blooming happens quietly, after all. All that anyone knew was that they did eventually bloom, and it was a pleasant surprise (and relief) when one finally noticed their full beauty after all that waiting.

Actually, their story begins long before they even had a proper conversation. See, the summer before Johnny started high school, his family moved from Chicago, Illinois to his parents’ homeland of South Korea. Now, Johnny hadn't struggled too much with the transition. He spoke Korean at home, so he’d already had a decent grasp of the language. And he was generally quite friendly and outgoing, so it wasn't hard at all for him to talk to people. But the minute he graduated, that communication stopped, and although Johnny missed having people to talk to, he wasn't entirely sad about it. His soul never…clicked with theirs, really. They were nice, sure. But they weren't exactly friends.

There was actually only one regret Johnny had about high school, and that regret’s name was Taeyong Lee. Taeyong Lee, the unapproachably beautiful boy who grew well into his looks without losing a delicate fairylike aura. He’d seemed so cold and distant: like a porcelain doll or a statue. But Johnny had watched him over the course of high school, and Johnny knew that Taeyong was actually the definition of “fluff.” He’d known that Taeyong volunteered at the local animal shelter. That he worked tirelessly on his projects and lovingly tutored all his underclassmen. That his teachers loved him, and the lunch ladies would save him his favorites. He was so soft and kind and lovely inside and out—

And Johnny didn't talk to him at all and just crushed from a distance and pined like a _goddamn idiot_ because he was a coward.

Oh well. It's not like any of it mattered anymore. He was in his first year of college now, and he was supposed to be doing his job. As a student worker in the university library, it was his job to go inform patrons that the library was closing, not daydream about Taeyong Lee—

Taeyong Lee, _who was asleep at one of the library tables_.

Johnny could have panicked. In fact, he almost did. But instead, he took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He believed in fate, after all. He wasn't about to throw away this second chance.

* * *

_Just a few more pages._

_Just a few more pages._

_Just a few more pa—_

Taeyong really wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but through the shapeless oblivion of sleep, he could vaguely feel someone trying to gently shake him awake.

“Excuse me?” And wow, they had such a soft voice. Like a plush blanket. Or a gentle breeze. Or some other third thing, he was too soft to be poetic right now. It also sounded weirdly like his high school crush. But his high school crush was loud and friendly and social. Was Taeyong still dreaming? Because his high school crush made for such a soft and pretty dream…

“Excuse me,” the lovely voice said again. “Could you please wake up? The library is going to close in fifteen minutes.”

Library? Wait… Oh shit. He most definitely was _not_ dreaming—

Taeyong’s head jerked up from where his face had been sticking to a page of his textbook.

“What _—_?” he rasped, and oh god, had he been drooling? Was there drool on his textbook? This was so embarrassing—

“Taeyong- _ssi_?”

Taeyong blinked once. Twice. And only then did his sleepy brain realize that he was staring at one (1) wholeass Johnny fucking Seo Youngho _—_

“Oh dear god, I’m sorry,” Taeyong whispered, realizing that he was still staring. Then quickly clearing his throat, he shot up from his seat, scrambling to grab his stuff. “Well, I better go _—_ ”

“Whoa,” Johnny said, grabbing Taeyong’s wrist and pulling it between them. “Calm down, Taeyong- _ssi_ —”

Taeyong brought his other wrist up next to the one Johnny was already holding, in the hopes that Johnny would hold that one with his other hand. He did.

“Taeyong- _ssi_?” he teased. “Aren’t we the same age?”

“I…” Johnny looked embarrassed, and Taeyong internally cooed a little at the light pink on Johnny’s face. “You remember who I am?” he asked shyly.

“Of course I do!” Taeyong replied. “I mean, I know we never talked, but…” Taeyong's voice dropped to a shy whisper. “…you're kind of unforgettable.”

“Oh,” Johnny said softly.

For a while, they stared at each other, Johnny still holding Taeyong’s wrists, both smiling shyly in an awed kind of silence. Which should have been awkward, since technically, they’d never had a conversation. But both of them would have been happy to stay there forever.

And there it was: the quiet start of something beautiful.

Not that either of them knew it back then.

* * *

Things just sort of…happened from then on.

Taeyong had stayed until Johnny was dismissed by his boss for the night, and when they saw that it was raining, Johnny offered to drive him home.

When Johnny parked, he walked Taeyong to the door, where Taeyong asked for his number.

The next day, Johnny woke up to a good morning text, and his own good morning back was followed by plans for coffee and a study date.

(Whether it was an actual date, well…)

Study dates over coffee turned to texting each other in class, and texting turned into late nights through FaceTime, each turning off the lights and saying good night for the next three hours.

They were doing their laundry, ordering takeout, shopping at the nearby convenience store. Every moment in Johnny's life that was supposed to be boring was now spent with Taeyong, and somehow, with Taeyong, those things weren't boring anymore.

And then suddenly…

He wasn't complaining or anything, but Johnny wasn’t really sure how he ended up as a permanent fixture at the weekly Lee family dinners.

Taeyong had simply invited him one week, when Johnny’s parents were spending their anniversary in Jeju-do. Johnny, not wanting to spend the weekend alone, accepted the invitation, figuring that this would be the one and only chance he would have to meet Taeyong’s family. And admittedly, he was a little nervous. Maybe it was because of his big fat crush on Taeyong, but Johnny felt the need to make a good impression. After all, traditionally, Koreans only met their significant other’s parents when things were really serious. (Not that that was what was going on, but _still_.)

Johnny had expected a one-and-done sort of scenario, so he tried not to enjoy himself too much. Except he met a kid named Mark who laughed at all his lame jokes, and another kid (“Donghyuck is my dad; call me Haechan!”) was happy that Johnny seemed genuinely interested in the things he had to say. (And he was.) Johnny instantly adopted them into his heart, and by the time the night was over, he found himself incredibly sad that this would probably never happen again.

Except that wasn't what happened. Because the Lee family had _loved_ Johnny. So much so that they asked him to come back. So he did. And then they asked him to come back again. And he did. Again. And again. And again, until eventually, he was expected to be there just like Taeyong was. Johnny was there so often, in fact, it wasn't unusual for him to spend the night.

“I’m happy they like you,” Taeyong told him one night.

“I like your family right back,” Johnny replied. “So I’m glad.”

They were lying on a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor of Taeyong’s bedroom. When Johnny had first stayed the night, Taeyong had insisted that Johnny take the bed while he slept on the couch, but Johnny had refused to kick Taeyong out of his own bedroom. Eventually, they compromised by sleeping like this instead. Except they never slept as much as they could have. They usually wound up talking until it was so late that it was actually early.

(Because some things are easier to say when you can stare at the ceiling and pretend you’re talking to the darkness.)

“The kids especially like you,” Taeyong said. “You take good care of them.”

“They’re cute kids,” Johnny replied. “And I’ve always wanted siblings.”

“...siblings?” Taeyong sounded doubtful. “Is that what you see them as? Siblings?”

Johnny knew what Taeyong was asking. Johnny knew _why_ Taeyong was asking. At some point, Mark had complained that his Chinese classes were getting hard, and the amount of self-anger and frustration in his eyes was enough to make Johnny feel the need to fix things. Before he knew it, Johnny had begun tutoring Mark, and at some point after that, he had started buying Mark ice cream whenever he earned a good grade on his quizzes.

Then Haechan had started panicking, saying that his dad had gotten a new job and would no longer be able to drive him to the local music center.

“If I don’t find a ride,” Haechan had said, pacing a hole into the floor, “I’ll have to quit taking voice lessons…” And _God_ , the pain in Haechan’s voice at the idea… Johnny’s heart couldn’t take it. And so Johnny had started driving Haechan to voice lessons, ruffling Haechan’s hair whenever he excitedly began telling Johnny about his day.

But it wasn’t until earlier that night, when Johnny was in the middle of wiping sauce off of Haechan’s face—but for the record, why was Haechan just _letting_ him?—that he realized that somewhere along the way, he’d gone far beyond the expectations of a responsible _hyung_.

He’d begun acting awkwardly after that realization, and if the concerned looks he was getting were anything to go by, Johnny knew the others had picked up on it. So Taeyong had distracted the kids with dessert and a movie, giving Johnny a look that said,

 _You have two hours to calm down_.

Taeyong wouldn’t ask him what was wrong. Not now, not in front of the kids. No, Taeyong would wait, until they were alone on the floor, with the darkness as their only eavesdropper. And Johnny knew that Taeyong wouldn’t let it go, especially since the kids had been involved.

So Johnny said, “No. No, I don’t see them as my siblings. I see them as my—”

The truth got caught in his throat, and Taeyong seemed to sense this. “Johnny, you know I wouldn’t judge you for anything.”

Johnny did know that. He also knew that Taeyong wouldn’t push him if he got angry enough, because Taeyong was too goddamn nice for his own good. So Johnny knew: if they were ever going to keep going with this in the long run, it was up to him to bring it up.

So with no small amount of embarrassment, Johnny quietly admitted:

“I see them as my kids.”

It was silent for a bit. So long of a bit that Johnny began feeling nervous, and the shaky breath Taeyong eventually released didn’t help.

“Do you?” Taeyong asked with a shaky voice. He sounded like he was trying not to cry.

“I do,” Johnny replied resolutely.

“Good,” Taeyong choked out, and Johnny realized they were happy tears. “I’m glad.”

Johnny reached out and pulled Taeyong to him, and Taeyong curled up on Johnny’s chest, nuzzling his teary face into the juncture of Johnny’s neck and shoulder. Taeyong let out a few more shaky breaths, Johnny began stroking Taeyong’s hair, and a precious quiet settled in for the rest of the night.

At breakfast the next morning, Johnny woke up early, carefully peeled off Taeyong’s koala grip, and made breakfast. Johnny drizzled the waffles with extra syrup and fried bacon, eggs and hash browns. He greeted each of the kids with a kiss on the forehead and a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. If the kids were surprised by this, they didn't show it. If anything, Mark sleepily muttered a thank you, and Haechan hugged Johnny after breakfast.

And as Taeyong watched with his parents from around a corner, something warm and fuzzy settled itself into Taeyong’s heart. Something that Taeyong knew was there to stay.

Taeyong didn’t mind it one goddamn bit.

* * *

Eventually, the adults started leaving their kids alone with Taeyong and Johnny. And Johnny never thought anything of it, instead quietly relishing this newfound role of Team Dad™. It was a bit of a joke, at this point, where the kids would roll their eyes and say,

“Yeah, whatever, _Dad_.”

Johnny didn’t mind. It was just a joke, after all. It was. At least, until Jeno, yet another Lee cousin, showed up late for dinner one week.

That week, the adults had left to go to some fancy dinner party, leaving Taeyong and Johnny in charge of the kids. So naturally, Taeyong put Johnny and the kids to work around the kitchen. Haechan was kneading the pizza dough, Mark was shredding the cheese, and Taeyong occaisionally stirred the giant pot of tomato sauce in between slicing various toppings. Johnny himself was rolling out some cookie dough that Taeyong had made sometime before. Taeyong had gotten into the habit of making a lot of dough at once and freezing what he didn’t use, and Johnny appreciated that. Johnny was a decent cook, but Taeyong definitely had him beat in the realm of baking.

“Where’s Jeno?” Taeyong asked suddenly, frowning worriedly at the rain outside. “It’s not like him to be late.”

Haechan looked up from mutilating his ball of pizza dough and shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he was going to be here though.”

“Maybe he had homework or something?” Mark suggested. “I thought he said something about meeting with a tutor…”

“Tutor?” Taeyong asked. “As far as I knew, his grades were fine.”

Johnny checked his phone, worst case scenarios flying through his mind. “No word from him… I’ll go call him.”

Taeyong gave him a relieved smile. “Thank you, Johnny. I’m worried…”

“So am I. I’ll be back.”

Leaving the kitchen, Johnny went to pull up his contacts page when he heard the front door unlocking. Peeking around the corner into the hallway, Johnny was relieved to see Jeno coming in. Relief quickly changed to curiosity, just barely beating out frustrated anger. Standing behind Jeno in the doorway was another boy who looked to be around Jeno and Haechan’s age.

“Are you sure you don't want to come in?” Jeno was saying.

“No, really, it's fine,” the other boy replied. “I don't want to intrude on your family dinner…”

“But I thought your parents were out tonight?”

“They are. But it's fine. They left me leftovers in the fridge, and it's not like it's the first time I've eaten them alone in front of the TV…”

“Jaemin—”

“I'll be fine! I promise!”

A kid? Alone eating leftovers? Well, not on Johnny’s watch. But he didn't want to scare this Jaemin kid off. So Johnny stepped into the hallway and said:

“Is that you, Jeno? You're late. Where have you been, kid?”

Johnny must have startled him, because Jeno, in the middle of taking off his shoes, almost fell over. Jaemin just barely managed to steady him.

“Oh! Um, I just…” Jeno nervously looked down and continued removing his shoes, but his movements were slower. He kept staring at his shoes as if it was an excuse to not meet Johnny’s gaze. “…are you mad?”

Oh no. It was the _I know, I fucked up, and I'm sorry_ voice. Johnny sighed.

“I’m not _mad_. I’m just… _disappointed_. You have a cellphone, kid. You could have at least told us where you were. We were worried.”

Jeno looked up sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Dad…”

Johnny’s heart soared, but he managed to keep the giddiness off of his face. This was serious dad business right now.

“It’s alright, kid,” Johnny replied. “Just as long as you do it next time.” Then, with a mischievous smirk, he asked, “Who’s your friend?”

Jeno tensed. “Oh! Um…this is Jaemin. My, um…tutor. Friend. Person. Yeah.”

Well. _There_ was a conversation to be had later…

Jaemin stepped forward, shaking Johnny’s hand and greeting him formally. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

Johnny chuckled, feeling like a father meeting his kid’s boyfriend. (Not that that was what was happening, of course. Not yet, anyway.) “No need to be so formal, Jaemin. Call me Johnny. And I insist you stay for dinner.”

“Oh no, really. It's fine—”

“Johnny?” It was Taeyong, wiping off his hands on a kitchen towel as he walked into the hallway. Johnny, not for the first time, was struck by how incredibly domestic this all was. And by how easily Taeyong—or maybe Taeyong didn't realize what he was doing—slipped into the role of a homemaker, the perfect counterpart to Johnny’s _drive the kids everywhere_ role _._

But just because they made a good team—

“Johnny, is everything alright—?” Thankfully, Johnny was saved from replying, because Taeyong saw Jaemin and began smiling widely. “Well, hello, Jaemin! I'm Lee Taeyong, Jeno and Haechan’s cousin.”

Jaemin blinked in surprise. “You know who I am?”

“Of course! Jeno and Haechan talk about you all the time!”

Jaemin flushed and looked at Jeno, probably for reassurance, only to see that Jeno, who was suddenly intensely focused on taking off his jacket, had a matching shade of pink lightly dusting his face.

“Oh,” Jaemin said softly.

“Jeno- _yah_ ,” Taeyong said, putting the kitchen towel over his shoulder. “Why don't you show Jaemin to the kitchen? I think Haechan- _ah_ could use some help.”

“What?” Haechan yelled, his little footsteps hurrying into the hallway. “I heard my name—” Haechan stopped at the sight of Jaemin.

“He was going to stay home alone again,” Jeno said, with a tone not unlike a little kid snitching.

A determined look crossed Haechan’s face. “Oh, no you don't,” he said, marching towards Jaemin. “Jeno, grab his shoes.”

“On it.”

“Wait,” Jaemin said, slightly alarmed. “What—?”

Before Jaemin knew it, Jeno and Haechan had managed to get him out of his shoes and his coat. When he realized this, any and all protests died on Jaemin’s tongue, and he let himself be escorted into the kitchen.

(Soon enough, Jaemin—and later, his host brother Yuta—became a frequent sight around the Lee household.)

* * *

Soon after that, the Lees’ invitation was eventually extended to the rest of the Seo household. Johnny was delighted to find that his parents got along famously with Taeyong’s, and for a second, Johnny wondered if this was what it was like to be married.

The two families grew close. So close, in fact, that they came to spend holidays together. The tiny Seo family was easily adopted into the considerably larger Lee clan, and after the first year or so, when the Seos began housing international students, the invitation was extended to them too. At that point in time, that meant Ten. Which Johnny was fine with, if Ten could just _stop giving him weird looks whenever Taeyong wasn't looking, dammit._

And it wasn't just Ten. Mark and Haechan and Jeno and Jaemin— _all_ the kids. Even Yuta, when he first joined movie nights, asked Johnny if Taeyong was the other Team Parent™.

“No,” Johnny had replied. “He’s not.”

Of course, that was when Taeyong had come in with an ungodly amount of fried chicken, sternly telling the excited kids that they could have no more than three pieces each to start off.

Yuta had given him that same weird look. “Does he know that?”

Johnny knew what he was asking. But just because Johnny loved being the Team Dad™, it didn’t mean that Taeyong would be okay with being called the other Team Parent™.

Johnny shook his head, focusing instead on the late-night dinner in front of the TV. Which wasn’t hard, because instead of a peaceful movie night…

“But Mark- _hyung,_ ” Haechan whined. “We’ve already seen _Guardians of the Galaxy—_ ”

“This is _Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2—_ ”

“I don’t care! I’m not gonna sit through another nerdy movie _—_ ”

“You’re literally asking us to watch _Anastasia_ —”

“And last week, you wanted us to watch the director’s cut of _Lord of the Rings—"_

“ _Lord of the Rings_ is a literary masterpiece—”

Jeno groaned. “Can’t we just watch—?”

“NO!” Haechan shrieked. “The last time we let you pick the movie, we watched _A Quiet Place_ , and I had nightmares for months!”

“Only ‘cuz you're a freaking crybaby—”

“Hey, be nice,” Johnny warned. “Or I'm not getting dessert from the kitchen.”

“Also,” Taeyong said, “you need to pick a movie soon if you want to watch one at all tonight. It's getting late, and I don't want you kiddos up past your bedtimes.”

Mark looked a little miffed. “I'm not a little kid…”

Haechan, sighing up at the ceiling, looked like he wanted to go home. “Could you two please stop acting like my parents?”

Without even blinking, Taeyong replied, “We _are_ your parents.”

Yuta shot Johnny that same look as he handed Jaemin the popcorn. Ten laughed softly as he chose _Shrek_ , and no one protested as the movie began.

Taeyong had never called himself a fellow Team Parent™ before, so Johnny had dismissed it as a slip of the tongue. A joke made in the moment and would be forgotten by next week.

(Even if he did squeal into his Winnie the Pooh Pillow Pet later that night and told Mr. Blue the stuffed whale that he was going to treasure that moment forever in his heart.)

But it happened again, when Johnny was waiting near the front door, and Taeyong gave Jaemin and Yuta packed lunches.

“You’re such a parent,” Yuta groaned. Taeyong just shrugged, kissed Jaemin’s forehead and sent him to Johnny’s car.

“Yeah,” Taeyong replied. “I guess I am.”

It was surprising, sure. But Johnny wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It happened again:

“Kids, grab your things! Or Johnny’s going to leave you behind!”

“I can’t find my umbrella!”

“It’s leaning against the nightstand in your room!”

“Where’s my hat?”

“You left it on the coffee table in the living room!”

And it wasn't long at all before it was normal to hear:

“Hey Johnny, are you going to go pick up the kids?”

“Yeah, I've got it. Just take it easy today, alright, Yongie?”

Or:

"Hey, how was school today?"

"Fine, thanks!"

Or even:

"Stay together, kids!"

"We will!"

"And don't stay out too late!"

"We won't!"

It was soft. It was lovely. It was every piece of domesticity that Johnny ever could have asked for. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Mark, as the oldest, had outbursts when he felt smothered. Haechan had been a wreck when he didn’t make it past auditions for a solo in the choir concert. Jeno and Jaemin were both stressed when Jaemin made the soccer team and Jeno didn’t.

But they made it through it all. And there it was: in moments like these. After a tearfully good heart-to-heart or while watching their kids smile and laugh, Johnny and Taeyong would share a proud little look. Johnny couldn’t help but hope that this was what the future looked like.

 _Maybe someday_ , Johnny thought as he stared into Taeyong’s eyes. _Maybe someday…_

* * *

Taeyong was used to all the attention that Johnny would get from girls, especially the international ones. After all, Taeyong was all too aware of how attractive his best friend was. But by now, this had happened enough that there was almost kind of a routine to it. Some girl, usually with a certain kind of grin on her face and look in her eyes, would call out to Johnny, asking him about something completely unimportant. Johnny would smile politely, humor the girl, and answer her question. Then he’d dismiss her, turn back to Taeyong, and that was the end of that.

This time was different. Instead of being approached, Johnny stopped in the middle of his sentence to stand up and yell at someone coming out of the building.

“Hey Julie!” he called, a wide grin on his face.

A girl—Julie, apparently—looked around for who called her name. When she spotted Johnny, she gave a shy little smile and wave and began walking over. As she got closer, Johnny opened his arms for a hug.

Julie stopped a little ways from Johnny, blinking in surprise.

“Oh! Um…okay…” she said. She moved in to hug him back, when suddenly, Johnny squeezed her to his chest in his signature bear hug. Julie yelped as Johnny suddenly lifted her into the air, and _wow_ , she was tiny: her little legs dangling freely, kicking around, trying to find something to connect with. She _had_ to be less than 160 cm…

Johnny set Julie back down, a huge mischievous grin on his face. Julie shoved Johnny, pouting and calling him a “great big meanie.” Johnny just playfully rolled his eyes and turned back to Taeyong.

“Taeyongie, this is Julie,” Johnny said in Korean. “She's a first-year student, and she's going to be staying with my family. She’ll be like Ten: with us until she graduates.” Then, without even blinking, he turned to Julie and switched to English.

“Julie, this is Taeyong. Don't worry too much about your Korean for now. Taeyongie understands English just fine.”

“Oh?” Julie sent Johnny a strange look, one that was somewhere between recognition and mischief. Taeyong, for his part, was surprised at the wide grin that Julie gave him. He'd expected…what exactly? The same annoyed look most girls had when Johnny kept talking to Taeyong? He wasn't really sure, but Taeyong was almost startled when Julie reached up to hug him. If Ten hadn't done the same thing when they first met, Taeyong probably would have freaked out.

“Taeyong freaking Lee,” she said when they pulled apart. Then, to Taeyong's surprise (and Johnny’s too, it seemed), Julie jabbed a thumb in Johnny’s direction.

“Do you know how much this jerk talks about you?! It's really annoying. Like, at lunch yesterday, we were talking about hair dying, and he said your hair was—mmff!”

“Alright, that's enough,” Johnny said, keeping his hand over Julie’s mouth.

“I mean, she only speaks the truth,” Ten said suddenly. He was sitting cross-legged behind them on a picnic table, slurping from a flimsy cup of instant noodles with cheap wooden chopsticks.

Johnny frowned. “When the hell did you get there?”

With Johnny distracted, Julie began struggling out of Johnny’s grip, and Ten started cackling as Julie and Johnny began pulling and shoving each other. And Taeyong realized that he had nothing to worry about.

(Even if he wasn’t ready to admit _why_ he’d been worried at all.)

Johnny had always wanted siblings, after all. And Taeyong, who himself had an older sister, recognized this kind of playful banter. It would seem that now that Julie was here, Johnny was finally going to have the noisy family he’d always wanted. Taeyong couldn't help but stare: look at how happy Johnny was! And if Johnny was happy, Taeyong was happy too.

* * *

It wasn’t really a conscious decision to own a café. It's just that Johnny was a business major, and Taeyong was studying to be a pastry chef. So they’d toyed around with the idea before, talking idly about how nice it would be if they could do that. But it all seemed like a distant dream. A nice concept to think about to when they wondered about their future.

(Calling it _their_ future wasn't really a conscious decision either.)

Then, an alumnus named Amber, who considered Johnny to be her little brother, had somehow inherited a bakery she didn't know what to do with. Not having the heart to sell it, she instead handed the property over to Johnny, knowing that he and Taeyong would take good care of it. One thing led to another, and the next thing either of them knew, they were drawing up business plans, discussing logistics…

And that's how Taeyong got here, standing in the middle of a renovation in progress, arguing with Ten about paint colors as Johnny went over some paperwork. Mark was there too, watching Taeyong and Ten like a puppy at a tennis match.

“ _No_ , Tennie,” Taeyong was saying. “We are _not_ painting the place blue!”

“Why the _hell_ not? Blue is a calming color—”

“Because it's a _cool_ color. Cool colors are for ice cream parlors, not coffee shops—”

“Oh, and I suppose that ‘coffee brown’ is a warm color?”

“It is! Basic color theory, Tennie.”

Ten rolled his eyes. “I'm starting to think that your caffeine addiction is starting to get to your head…”

“Hey, I will have you know that it is _perfectly_ acceptable to walk out to a café just to get coffee in 40-degree weather. It's a rule I live by!” Taeyong turned to Johnny. “Right, Johnny?”

“I know,” Johnny replied, not looking up as he flipped through more paperwork. “I don't even remember how many times I've gotten you coffee at a weird hour…”

Ten produced a strangled cough that sounded strangely like the word “whipped,” and Mark started clapping like a seal as he laughed.

(It was probably the one piece of English slang that Taeyong _didn't_ know.

He would eventually wind up learning what it meant. About two years later, Kun and Winwin would innocently ask about it when they'd heard Julie talking Jungwoo’s new boyfriends. Although by that time, Taeyong would have forgotten where he'd heard the word before.)

“You guys get to rename the place though, right?” Ten asked, deciding to change the subject before Taeyong truly lost it. “Have you decided on a name yet?”

Before Taeyong and Johnny had come along, the place had been called the Sugar Baby Bakery. Taeyong had thought the name was cute, but apparently the name meant something else in English, because Julie had choked on a chocolate chip muffin, Ten had laughed so hard that milk came out his nose, and Johnny had just looked uncomfortable.

(Ten had quickly taken it upon himself to explain, in weirdly specific detail, what the term “Sugar Baby” meant. He’d seemed particularly knowledgeable in the related term “Sugar Daddy” as well. But there were just some things about Ten that Taeyong just didn’t need to know.)

So yeah. They were definitely going to change the name. But to what? Taeyong certainly didn’t have any ideas. And he said as much.

“We’re also not going to take any of _your_ suggestions,” Johnny said pointedly to Ten.

(In light of the “Sugar Baby” thing, Ten had grabbed Yuta and decided to introduce him and Taeyong to the wacky world of Cards Against Humanity. Ten had happily explained references and terms, while Johnny had looked more and more constipated with every round.

“What will I bring back in time to convince people that I am a powerful wizard?” the black card had asked.

Yuta snorted at the card he chose: “A homoerotic volleyball montage.”

Johnny put “Raptor attacks.”

He choked when Taeyong put “Gloryholes.”

It was Julie who won though, with “A really cool hat.”

Ten had complained that it was anticlimactic. Yuta had just rolled his eyes, calling him “salty” over losing to the then-eighteen-year-old _maknae_. Another word they had learned that day.)

“Hey, my idea was actually wholesome this time!”

Johnny sighed. “What is it, Ten?”

“I was gonna say ‘Morning Star!’ You know, because it’s a breakfast place?”

Mark burst out laughing.

“What?!” Ten said indignantly. “It was a legitimate idea!”

Mark kept laughing as he typed into his phone. He was probably texting Julie.

“‘Morning Star,’” Mark explained, “is another name for Lucifer.”

He must have received a reply from Julie, because he laughed again and pointed at his phone. “Julie- _noona_ said, and I quote, ‘What a concept. Waking up to coffee from Satan himself, the Prince of Lies, the Devil Incarnate, an Angel fallen down from the High Heavens…’”

Taeyong had only been paying half of his attention to the conversation. Johnny had gotten up and began walking towards Taeyong, still staring at the paperwork in his hands. Something about the morning sunlight glowing softly around Johnny had caught his attention, and Taeyong couldn’t help but think of how much of a blessing it was to have a steady pillar of support like Johnny in his life. He was grateful just to have _Johnny_ in his life. He was an—

“Angel,” Taeyong said suddenly.

“What?” Johnny’s head shot up, and his gaze immediately found Taeyong’s.

“I think its name is…Angel.”

“Angel…” Johnny repeated softly.

“Yeah…”

_Just like you. You are my angel._

“Angel Café. I love it.”

_I love you._

Neither Johnny nor Taeyong heard Ten and Mark gagging in the background.

* * *

It was 1:27am, but for the life of him, Taeyong couldn’t sleep.

Earlier that night, Taeyong’s sister had held a celebratory dinner in honor of her recent engagement, and the Lees’ had all arranged to give the newly engaged couple the house to themselves for the evening. Hence, why Taeyong was pacing in the Seos’ kitchen.

He was just so…so…so _something_ these days that he couldn’t even properly put it into words. Was he stressed? Not really: he had turned in his final project, so all that was left to do was for the professor to grade it. Was he worried about the café? No, that project was going quite well, in fact. And Taeyong was glad to be graduating soon, so he could devote all of his time to the café.

But lately, Johnny had been a little more affectionate than usual. Sure, it wasn’t unusual for the two of them to be curled up together as they slept or for Johnny to hold Taeyong’s hand on a busy city street. But Johnny had started leaving soft kisses to Taeyong’s forehead, and more than once, Johnny had placed his arm around Taeyong's waist.

Maybe because Johnny had moved himself into an apartment above the café, so he wanted to make sure Taeyong knew Johnny was still around? But that was silly! Taeyong couldn't forget about Johnny. Johnny was too… _special_ to him.

But was Taeyong special to Johnny? Johnny liked to spoil him, Taeyong knew that for sure. But why did Johnny go to his own apartment after dinner instead of staying with Ten and Julie?

Why didn’t he stay with Taeyong?

Why did Johnny leave him?

“Taeyongie- _hyung_?”

Taeyong jumped, whirling around to face the kitchen doorway. And there stood Julie: sleep-mussed hair and glasses, rumpled fuzzy pajamas, and the soft wolf plushie Johnny had gotten her for her birthday. She looked incredibly small, smaller than usual, and Taeyong was suddenly reminded of when Julie first came to Korea. She used to be rather careless with her pronunciation, and after Ten kept making fun of her for saying _appa_ instead of _oppa,_ she eventually gave up and started mockingly calling them _hyung_ instead.

(Her Korean was better now, of course. But she still called the three of them _hyung_.)

“I heard you pacing from the living room…” Julie said, padding noiselessly into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”

Taeyong hesitated, and Julie seemed to sense this.

“...if you don't want to talk about it,” she said, “we can just make tea instead.”

Slowly, Taeyong nodded. “Yeah. Tea. Tea sounds good…”

A quiet settled between them, with the only sounds being the water filling the electric kettle. At least, until Julie took the kettle from Taeyong and pushed the button to start the heating. Then suddenly, there they were: the sounds of someone coming down the stairs.

“What's going on?” Ten muttered as he sleepily meandered into the kitchen.

Taeyong relaxed a little. He hadn't even realized that he had tensed up. “Sorry, we're making tea. Did we wake you?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Ten shrugged. “I’ve always been a light sleeper.”

Taeyong nodded, then quickly frowned. “...actually, now that I think about it, why are _you_ awake, Julie- _yah_?”

“I…have problems sleeping. I don’t know the word for it in Korean, but—”

“Insomnia,” Ten said.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “That.”

A beat of silence, then a soft laugh from Ten. He picked up the electric kettle and began making the tea. Now, Taeyong himself was a huge coffee drinker. But once in a while, whenever life got a little too stressful, he liked to settle in with a nice cup of tea.

“What a happy bunch we make,” Ten said as they each stirred their preferred additions into their tea.

“Yeah…” Taeyong sighed, and it was silent again, save for each of them bringing their tea into the living room. And they sat on the couch and began sipping their tea, and the silence remained. At least, for a while.

“...Taeyongie- _hyung_ ,” Julie said suddenly. “Are you mad because Johnny didn't come home with us?”

“No!” Taeyong exclaimed. “I mean, yes! I mean… I don't know…”

A sigh. More silence. Sips of tea. Then Ten said, “You should go visit him.”

Taeyong blinked. “He doesn't want me to. He literally looked at me tonight and told me that I wasn't allowed to follow him home.”

“That’s because he keeps insisting that the apartment ‘isn’t ready,’ whatever that means,” Julie said.

“It means,” said Ten, “that he wants to make it nice and pretty before showing it to you.”

Taeyong was confused. “Why?”

“He wants to impress you,” Julie replied. “I told him it was ridiculous, seeing as you would like anything that made him happy—”

“—but Johnny- _hyung_ keeps asking me if you would like this or that or whatever,” Ten added. “And I’m _begging_ you, Taeyong- _hyung_. Just visit him. He can’t make any decisions as to how to decorate his apartment because he’s too busy wondering what you would think of it.”

Taeyong was still confused. “But, why would that matter? It’s his apartment. He can do what he wants…”

_Including not having me over. That’s fine… I'm fine…_

Ten sighed, putting his tea down. “Look, Taeyong- _hyung_. You mean a lot to Johnny- _hyung_ , and he has no idea how to tell you. So he tries to impress you instead. And it’s honestly kind of embarrassing."

“I…” Taeyong wasn’t quite sure what to say. Not when he knew exactly what Ten meant. “Johnny is… He’s special to me too. I just—”

The truth got caught in his throat, and Julie put a comforting hand on his arm.

“You should say it to his face, _hyungie_ ,” Julie said. “Say it out loud. Say it, before it’s too late. He deserves that much.”

Taeyong took a deep shaky breath. He loved Johnny. He really, truly did. But he wasn’t sure if he could _say_ that out loud yet… His relationship with Johnny had never _needed_ words, after all. But Julie was right.

“I know,” Taeyong said quietly. “I will.”

Taeyong stood, gathered the mugs, and left for the kitchen.

Ten and Julie both quietly stared at the coffee table in front of them, listening to the sounds of Taeyong washing the mugs.

It wasn't until they heard Taeyong leave the kitchen to go upstairs that Julie spoke.

“…he's not gonna do it, is he?”

Ten snorted. “Not at least for another week.”

* * *

Taeyong knocked on Johnny’s apartment door, bouncing restlessly on the balls of his feet. The apartment itself was above the café, so it was easy for Taeyong to cut through the future employee backroom to climb up the stairs. But standing here, anxiously waiting for Johnny, Taeyong was suddenly nervous. But why? He shouldn’t be! He and Johnny had been together for far too long, so Taeyong knew that showing up unannounced with donuts and coffee was not going to change anything.

In fact, that was basically their entire friendship. They each could do anything that the other asked, and the other would do it because they were asked to. It was simple. It was effortless. He never had to try with Johnny, because Johnny just took whatever Taeyong gave him. He never once expected anything more from him. But maybe that was the problem. Taeyong had been waiting far too long for something to change. Maybe it was time for Taeyong to take charge.

And so, that morning, Taeyong made a decision: he was going to shove himself further into Johnny’s life. Just to see how far he could push it before Johnny stopped him. Now, Taeyong knew Johnny well enough that he knew where to stop. But before, Taeyong had never really touched—let alone pushed—against Johnny’s boundaries. Now though? Now that was going to change. Because if Ten and Julie were right, then he apparently had no reason to stop himself from doing all the cute and cuddly things he's always wanted to do but never did.

Suddenly—and it startled him far more than it should have—the apartment door opened.

“Taeyongie…” Johnny blinked. “What are you doing here?”

Taeyong wanted to coo at Johnny’s sleepy eyes and yellow teddy bear pajama pants. Instead, he shoved a cup of coffee and a box of donuts into Johnny’s arms.

“Housewarming,” Taeyong replied as he brushed past Johnny and walked into the apartment. “Well, I mean, I _was_ going to bring you a housewarming gift. But I didn't know what to get you, because I wasn't sure what you needed.”

Taeyong looked around the almost barren apartment and turned back to Johnny. “It looks like the answer to that question is: everything.”

Judging by the way Johnny was pursing his lips, he was feeling self-conscious. “I was going to get stuff, I swear! I just…didn't know what to get?”

Taeyong smiled. Johnny could have all of his uwus. “Alright, come on. Let's eat breakfast. Then we can go to IKEA, okay?”

Johnny blinked at him in surprise, and for a moment, Taeyong wondered if he was being too bossy. But Johnny just nodded. “Yeah, okay,” he said softly, and he led Taeyong to the kitchen—also empty, save for a microwave, a coffee maker, and a garbage can.

Later, at IKEA, Taeyong continued to be bossy, and to his surprise, Johnny just _let_ him.

"Alright, so,” Taeyong clapped once for emphasis. “We need a table. We also need at _least_ four chairs—"

“Four?” Johnny asked, blinking rapidly, as if his brain was still processing something else.

“You and I both know that Ten and Julie and the kids are going to barge in and demand food whenever they can. So we need to be at least somewhat ready for guests. So anyway. We need chairs, a refrigerator, a few pots and pans. A knife set, silverware, spatulas and other cooking utensils. A dish-rack, plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, and a chopping board… Do we need anything else for the kitchen?”

Johnny tilted his head thoughtfully. “I don't think so.”

“Okay then. Now. For the bathroom. We need a shower mat, towel racks, some shelves for toiletries..."

And the rest of it continued much in the same vein: with Taeyong continuing to use the royal “we,” and neither of them acting like such a thing was out of the ordinary.

Later, on the way home from IKEA, Taeyong received a text from his sister.

_Did you ask him yet?_

Taeyong frowned. _Ask who about what?_

_Johnny, you silly goose! Did you ask him to be your date to the wedding?_

Now Taeyong was confused. _Why would I need to ask? We always stick together at social things anyway. It’d be pointless._

A delayed response. When Taeyong read it, he could almost hear his sister’s fond but exasperated sigh. _Taeyong-_ ah. _You’ve been wondering what your relationship with Johnny is. Have you ever thought that it might be because you’ve never put it into words?_

Taeyong didn’t respond. He didn’t know how to.

His sister’s message haunted him over the next two weeks. But over the course of helping Johnny fill the apartment, he realized that he wanted this.

And he was tired of waiting.

If he was ever going to do this… Well, why not now?

“So,” Taeyong said suddenly. “My sister’s wedding is…you know. Gonna be a thing next week?”

Johnny, who was sitting at the recently assembled kitchen table, looked up from the IKEA instructions for the newly delivered bed frame.

“Yeah? I know? She showed me pictures of her dress yesterday.”

“Well…” Taeyong began. God, why was he so nervous? He already knew what Johnny would say. “She doesn't want me to go alone. She insists that I bring a date.”

Johnny frowned in confusion. “Of course I’ll go with you. Why do you even have to ask?”

“Because I want to go with _you_.”

A pause. “Taeyongie…what are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Taeyong declared, straightening his shoulders, “that I’m not asking you because I _need_ a date. I’m asking you because I _want_ you to be my date. But like, not for just the wedding. I mean for _everything_ …”

Taeyong stared helplessly at Johnny, and Johnny stared right back. The subsequent silence felt long. Too long. But right as Taeyong was about to say something, take back his words, tell Johnny to forget that he asked, Johnny started laughing nervously.

“Taeyongie,” Johnny said. “I'm going to be perfectly honest. I, um… I kind of thought we were _already_ dating? Like, I know we never said anything, but it was because I was waiting for you to show that you were okay with it, and I wanted to respect your boundaries, and—”

Johnny immediately stopped talking and inhaled sharply, probably because Taeyong had approached him to gently cupped Johnny’s face in one of his hands. And Taeyong watched, almost fascinated, as Johnny leaned into his touch, eyes intently watching Taeyong's face.

Taeyong’s thumb softly brushed over Johnny’s lips, and Taeyong was again surprised to see that Johnny was just _letting_ him do these things.

“May I?” Taeyong whispered.

“Yeah,” Johnny whispered back.

Their first kiss, like everything else about their relationship, was a soft and quiet thing.

But that didn’t make it any less beautiful.

* * *

It wasn’t often that Johnny felt so relaxed that he might actually fall asleep. But one thing that was guaranteed to get all of his stress out was Taeyong washing his hair.

It started about three months after they started dating “for realsies.” (“Never say that ever again, Jules.”) Johnny had gotten really, _really_ sick. (Stupid Ten and his constantly forgotten umbrellas…) It was so bad, in fact, that Johnny had been too weak to get up. Not that he could have anyway. Taeyong had practically chained him to the bed. (And actually? Considering the kinds of things they kept in the bottom drawer of the dresser, Taeyong absolutely could have.) After three days of laying in his own sick and sweat, Taeyong had come into the bedroom with a basin and and towel and gently washed Johnny’s hair.

Then Johnny had gotten really (embarrassingly) drunk once. Apparently, he had drunk dialed an amused Taeyong, and the entire night, he kept begging Taeyong to wash his hair because Taeyong had magical fingers. Johnny was terribly embarrassed (and hungover) the next day when he found out what he had said, but Taeyong kept reassuring him that he didn't mind.

(“In fact,” Taeyong had said, “I think it's cute!”

Johnny had still been embarrassed, but he did earn a kiss on his pouting lips from a laughing Taeyong.)

And so the hair washing became a regular thing.

As it became more and more frequent of a thing, more and more of Taeyong's stuff began appearing in the apartment. At first, it was a coffee mug, then a toothbrush, then his clothes in half of the dresser. Johnny hadn’t thought anything of it. After all, Taeyong had basically picked out everything in the apartment. Why wouldn’t he feel at home there?

(It wasn’t until Johnny walked in on Taeyong setting up his gaming computer that he realized that Taeyong had been trying to move in slowly, without Johnny noticing.

“You could have just asked,” the thoroughly amused Johnny told him. “You already have a key to the place.”

Taeyong had pouted. “I wanted to surprise you.”

Johnny had just laughed and pressed a kiss to Taeyong’s temple.)

After two years of this little tradition and a year of living together, Johnny didn’t even have to ask for it anymore. Sometimes, Johnny would come home with an extra furrow in his brow, an extra stiffness in his shoulders, an extra deepness in his frown. It was then that Taeyong would gently lead Johnny to the bathroom and wash his hair.

It was on days like these, when Taeyong was washing Johnny’s hair, that Johnny loved drifting off through his daydreams. These days, his dreams mostly involved a soft, lovely future. He wanted to take Taeyong on a road trip around America. The two of them had visited Chicago before with Ten and Julie, but Johnny wanted to take Taeyong to the lesser known gems of America. Like Myrtle Beach, Nashville and New Orleans. He wanted to get Taeyong anything and everything that he could ever ask for. He wanted to take Taeyong on a camping trip, and on a picnic blanket under the stars, he would get down on one knee and say:

“Marry me.”

Johnny’s heart stopped. Because _shit did those words come out of his mouth???_

But they _hadn't._ Which meant—

Nervously cracking his eyes open, he looked up at an upside-down Taeyong, who was looking down at Johnny with a soft expectant look on his face.

Johnny stared, a little disbelieving, then squeezed his eyes shut, trying hard to get his emotions under control.

“God _dammit_ ,” Johnny whispered.

“Johnny?” Taeyong asked, the tiniest bit insecure.

Johnny sighed. “Of course I’ll marry you, Yongie. I just…”

And maybe it was a testament to how well Taeyong knew Johnny, because Taeyong started laughing and bent down to press a Spider-Man kiss to Johnny’s pouting lips.

Johnny sighed again, trying (and failing) to keep a smile off his face.

Sure, this meant that Johnny’s own plans were pointless now, but as long as his Taeyongie was happy, well…

* * *

“They're so lucky,” Julie said, sipping from her mint hot chocolate.

Seated across from her at one of the café booths, Ten snorted softly. “Well, that's an understatement. They're like a fairytale or fanfiction or something.”

“They had mutual crushes on each other in high school, became best friends in college, and now they're successful business owner boyfriends. It's honestly kind of surreal.”

“Six whole years. Your boyfriend would never.”

Julie bristled. “Will you people stop rubbing your boyfriends in my face? And besides, _you’re_ one to talk about unreal relationships. _Your_ boyfriend literally wrote you notes and sent you presents every day for five days to win you over!”

“Yeah,” Ten smiled stupidly. “My Kunkun is so lovely.”

“Not as lovely as my Tenten,” Kun said, sliding into the booth next to Ten. Julie looked away as Kun kissed the cheek of a giggling Ten. A familiar ball of sadness sat in the pit of her stomach, the way it always did when she saw couples.

 _Meant for someone else but not for me,_ an old song went.

“안녕하세요, 여러분!” a familiar voice boomed, which was immediately followed by equally familiar peals of laughter.

“Markie, Lukie,” Julie greeted them as they slid into the booth next to her.

“Julie!” they beamed back, and dear god, she loved these kids.

(“We are _not_ kids!” Mark would always protest. “You're only one year older than us!”)

Immediately after Mark and Lucas, more people showed themselves. More people with boyfriends, that is. Yuta came in with Winwin, holding hands with their fingers interlaced. Shortly after that, Jungwoo texted her to tell her that they’d be coming late with Doyoung and Jaehyun, so they’d be picking up pizza. (Taeyong had made a rule a long ago: if you were running late, you had to bring food to share.)

And as much as Julie loved them all, she just kept feeling lonelier. It honestly felt like people weren't even dating anymore. It was just talking, catching feelings, sleeping together, and ending up in relationships.

_When would that ever happen to her?_

She'd felt a little relieved, when she saw her TA Moon Taeil show up. He was probably the only other person in the older half of their extensive friend group (Taeil was friends with Johnny) that wasn't dating anyone at the moment. But she was only a little relieved. Having talked with Jungwoo before about post-graduation plans, Julie knew it probably wouldn't be long at all before Moon Taeil was added to Jungwoo’s borderline harem.

(Julie loved her best friend. She really did. She just wondered how Jungwoo never got tired.)

“Okay, but does anyone actually know why Johnny and Taeyong called us to family dinner today?” Yuta asked.

The whole table turned to look expectantly at Julie and Ten, who could only exchange a look and shrug.

“I mean, I have an idea,” Ten admitted. “But…”

Julie nodded. “Yeah. It's crappy weather outside. I can't imagine him doing it today. Unless…”

Ten must have had the same thought, because he and Julie looked at each other.

“Taeyong,” they chorused.

Kun rolled his eyes. “Okay, you two. Not everyone shares a hivemind with John _—_ ”

The backdoor opened, and out came a grinning Taeyong and a pouting Johnny.

No one said anything as Taeyong pulled Johnny by his wrist to park them in front of the table where everyone was seated.

Julie looked at Taeyong (who looked incredibly pleased with himself), looked at Johnny (who decided to pout at the floor away from Taeyong), and began choking and dying of laughter.

Ten snickered, equally amused. “How pissed was he?” he asked Taeyong.

“Very,” Taeyong said, his own voice shaking with amusement.

“I had a whole thing planned!” Johnny whined. “I was gonna make a picnic dinner, we were gonna go camping, and while we were watching the meteor shower, I was gonna propose—”

“Wait, _what?_ ” a voice shrieked.

Julie coughed, still trying to choke back her laughter. “Jungwoo—” Julie tried to say to her best friend, who had just entered.

“Does this mean you're engaged?!” Jungwoo kept shrieking. Doyoung quickly caught up to his boyfriend, trying to calm him down, while Jaehyun shuffled awkwardly behind them with an ungodly amount of food from the pizzeria down the street.

Johnny was still pouting as Taeyong smugly lifted his hand, which was still holding Johnny's wrist. Johnny obediently turned his hand to show the others the simple glittering golden band on his ring finger.

“Yeah,” Johnny sighed. “We’re engaged.”

“Gee, you sure sound excited,” Jaehyun said dryly, piling all the food onto the table.

“Oh, he is,” said Taeyong, still grinning like a cat that caught a canary. “He's just mad that I beat him to it.”

“ _I had a whole thing planned—_ ”

“Yeah, yeah, we know, you big baby,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. Then, standing up, she started clapping. “Congratulations, you two.”

“Congratulations!” Ten and Jungwoo chorused, and soon, the whole room erupted into celebratory chaos. Johnny and Taeyong were (lovingly, I swear) shoved into chairs. Lucas was pouring drinks and loudly proposing a toast, and the younger high schoolers that they lovingly called the Dreamies (Wait, where did they come from?) somehow produced a piñata and (a probable cause for concern) a baseball bat.

And even though Ten was practically wrestling a glittery party hat onto Johnny's head, Taeyong knew that there was no place that Johnny would rather be.

Taeyong curled up next to Johnny, cuddling Johnny's arm to his chest and pressing his temple into Johnny's shoulder.

"I love you," he whispered, his eyes sliding shut in contentment.

Taeyong felt a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I love you too," came Johnny's quiet reply.

Soft and quiet. Like everything else about their relationship.

It was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Wowie Zowie Oopie-Powie. SO. Now that authors have finally been revealed, it means I can write this author's note. WOO.
> 
> I'm so grateful for all of your comments, and I hope you all know that they make me smile.
> 
> In any case, the next few stories. I think next in this series will be dojaewoo(il?). I also want to write yuwin, but I need to figure out a good prompt first. :P
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/princessgongju1)   
>  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/princessgongju1)


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